


The Academies

by Octibbles



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2014-01-20
Packaged: 2018-01-02 18:37:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1060180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Octibbles/pseuds/Octibbles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>English Academy and Crocker Academy both seem like normal boarding schools, but are they harboring a secret?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is cowritten with my dear friend, she has written some parts and I have written others. Neither of us has attempted such a large scale story before, so we apologize in advance for any mistakes or awkward writing. Enjoy the story.

    "Oh  _fuck_ no." Karkat snarled under his breath as he walked into his room. Of course it would be his luck to get the stupid blond sunglasses-wearing douche as his roommate. He had first seen the kid that morning when he had first arrived, and immediately decided that he hated him. Every little douchey detail of him got on Karkat's nerves. Plus he had already claimed top bunk. Karkat resolved just to ignore the guy. He shoved his bags onto the bottom bunk and stalked out of the room before his new roommate could say a thing. He would have to find somewhere else to spend his time.

    After roaming the campus for a couple of minutes, he settled on sitting under a large tree in the courtyard. The courtyard was mostly deserted, so he wouldn't have to deal with the sheer stupidity that everyone here seemed to contain. He decided to check if there was wifi, and to his relief, there was.

    He checked to see if any of his friends were online, they were probably having a far better day than he was. He didn't actually know any of them in real life, but he figured it was probably better that way, they would probably hate him even more than they already did. Strangely, the majority of them were offline, even twinArmaggedons who was always online. The only person online happened to be possibly the most infuriating person Karkat knew. Though they fought constantly he actually really enjoyed talking to her. Not that he'd ever let her know that. He decided to pester her.

carcinoGeneticist began pestering gallowsCalibrator at 12:45

CG: HEY

GC:H3Y

GC: WH4TS UP?

CG: JUST HAVING AN INCREDIBLY SHITTY DAY

GC: WH3N 4R3 YOU NOT H4V1NG 4 SH1TTY D4Y THOUGH

CG: GOOD POINT BUT TODAY IS EXCEPTIONALLY SHITTY

GC: OH 1T C4NT B3 TH4T B4D

CG: WHY THE FUCK NOT

GC: W3LL YOU TOLD M3 TH4T TOD4Y YOU 4R3 ST4RT1NG 4 N3W SCHOOL

GC: YOU C4NT 4LR34DY B3 H4V1NG 4 SH1TTY D4Y

CG: WELL I BET YOU'RE JUST HAVING A DANDY FIRST DAY AT YOUR SCHOOL

CG: MEANWHILE I'VE BEEN DEALING WITH THESE RETARDED ASS WIPES OVER HERE

CG: THIS MORNING DURING REGESTRATION I HAD TO DEAL WITH THIS PAIN IN THE ASS BITCH TRYING TO "HELP" ME

CG: SHE SURE AS FUCK WASN'T HELPING

CG: OH! AND THEN THIS FUCKTARD RAN INTO ME WHEN I GOT MY BOOKS AND I TOLD HIM "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING SHITHEAD" LIKE A PROPER GENTLEMAN SHOULD AND THEN HE SAID "I WAS JUST TRYING TO WALK WHEN YOUR ASS WALKED IN FRONT OF ME" SO I SAID "FUCK YOU"

CG: TURNS OUT HE HAS THE HONOR OF SHARING A ROOM WITH ME

GC: W3LL M4YB3 H3 1SNT 4S B4D 4S YOU TH1NK

GC: YOU SHOULD G1V3 H1M 4 CH4NC3

GC: N3V3R H4NG 4 V1CT1M UNT1L TH3 JURY S4YS OTH3RW1S3 >:]

CG: WHY DID I EVEN TELL YOU THIS YOUR ADVICE IS HORRIBLE

There was a slight pause where neither of them typed anything

GC: DO YOU H4PP3N TO B3 S1TT1NG UND3R 4 TR33?

CG: WHAT?

CG: WHY?

GC: JUST 4NSW3R TH3 QU3ST1ON

CG: ...

CG: MAYBE

GC: G1V3 M3 4 ST41GHT 4NSW3R

CG: FINE.

CG: YES I AM.

GC: TH4T'S 4LL 1 N33D3D TO KNOW

GC ceased pestering CG at 12:55

 

    "What..?" Karkat muttered.

    He was still confused when he felt something jab him sharply in the arm. He looked up to see a girl with ridiculous red shades poking him in the arm with a cane.

    He was about to ask her what the fuck she was doing, but she spoke up first.

 

    "Looks like I found you." she said, grinning at him.

    "You've gotta be fucking kidding me." Karkat said as sudden realization hit him "Are you.. GC?"

    She grinned wider.

    "Fuck." Karkat said

    She laughed at him. Karkat noted that her laugh was even more obnoxious in person. "I didn't know I would find you here, it was just a sweet surprise, like your words."

    "How did you even find me at all, you're blind! You've never even heard me or seen me, not like you ever could see me." he noticed her smile faltered slightly "Point is it should be nearly impossible for you to have found me, unless you could smell me or something weird like that."

    "Oh but I  _could_ smell you"

    "Excuse me?"

    "I'm joking, I could hear you typing on your phone, I was around the other side of the tree." she said "By the way, it's Terezi."

    Karkat smiled slightly, and was thankful she couldn't see that. A peculiar fluttering sensation had started in the pit of his stomach.

    "Karkat." he replied "How did you even know I was at this school? I never told you what school I was going to."

    "A little birdy who has an obsession with the number 2 told me."

    "Fucking TA." Karkat growled under his breath "Of course he would tell you."

    "He's here too, you know."

    "He- what?"

    "He also goes to this school."

    "And he didn't tell me this? That asshole!"

    Terezi chuckled "I know where he is if you want to yell at him in person."

    "Actually, yeah, that sounds like a really good idea."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(here's a bonus picture I drew the other day of Karkat and Terezi as they appear in this story, it's a bit sloppy but oh well) 


	2. Chapter 2

    "Bye dad." John said, waving as his his dad drove off after dropping him and his cousin Jane off at their new school. He winced as he saw the long line for registration. "We should have got here earlier." he muttered. "This line is gonna take forever." Jane nodded in agreement. They moseyed over to the end of the line and John decided to distract himself with his phone. TurntechGodhead was online. 

ectoBiologist began pestering turntechGodhead at 12:50

EB: hey!

TG: hey

EB: so hows your new school?

TG: sucks ass

TG: my bro told me it sucks but if you have a cool roommate its not bad

EB: well do you know who your roommate is?

TG: some douche who ran into me after registration

TG: his name is like carcat vantaz or something

EB: hmm dont know him

TG: yeah

TG: hows your school

EB: not sure 

EB: im stuck in the line for registration with jane

TG: she came with you

EB: yeah her mom was busy with the factory so she said jane could go to a boarding school this year instead of being home schooled

TG: because her mom is a crazy psycho ass right

EB: dave she's not that crazy plus she's my aunt.

TG: like you havent called her crazy before

EB: okay yes she's psycho but shes family

    John looked up at his cousin in pity knowing all of the madness she has had to endure with her mother. This must be a vacation for her compared to the stress of the bakery.

TG: well have jade and jake come yet

EB: no i haven't seen them yet

EB: they might be here already i should check.

TG: yeah that might be a good idea

TG: im still trying to contact rose and roxy

EB: well i should probably go

EB: i'll tell you if i hear from any of them

TG: alright thanks

TG: oh wait

EB: what?

TG: egbert do you go to a school called crocker or a school called english

EB: crocker why?

EB: do you go here?

TG: damn

TG: no i go to english the rival school

EB: man that sucks.

EB: i'll pester you later bye

TG: see ya

ectoBiologist ceased pestering turntechGodhead at 1:00

    

    John put away his phone, deciding to pester Jade or Jake later. The line seemed to be moving a bit quicker now.

    Jane looked up from her phone. "John?" she asked.

    "Yes?" he said.

    "I'm scared. This is all so new. A few days ago I was talking to Jake and he said it was going to be an adventure but I don't know if I want an adventure."

    John sighed and hugged her. "You'll be okay, Jane. Plus I'll be here to help you if you need me. We can stay up all night and watch Con Air, if you want!" he said with a chuckle.

    Jane smiled and laughed. "Alright. Well, if we get through this line." 

    John smiled, he was happy to see his cousin behaving like her true self and not the emotionless robot her mother wanted her to be. 

   

    There was a shout of "Janey!" and Jane was tackled into a hug by an overly enthusiastic blur of pink and white.

    "Roxy!" Jane exclaimed, returning the hug. "I thought you were going to English?"

    "Nah." Roxy said, releasing Jane. "I prolly wouldn't be too welcome back there for, uh, reasons, and besides, Rosey says that this school has better programs!"

     "That's right." said a voice from beside John. John, who had not noticed Rose's sudden appearance, jumped a little at the sudden appearance.

     "I'm not that scary, am I John?" Rose said, noticing this.

     "I- uh, no. I just didn't know you were there!"

    "Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" Jane asked Roxy.

    "Because I wanted to surprise ya!"

   

    The joyful reunion was cut short by a sudden "meow" from Roxy's bag.

    "Oh please tell me you didn't bring Jaspers." Rose said, rolling her eyes at her sister.

    Roxy held her bag close "No, that was me! Meow! See?" 

    The bag squirmed and another meow was emitted from within.

    "At least let that poor cat out to get some air." Rose said. "Why is the world would you think it was a good idea to bring him?"

    Roxy unzipped the bag and a black cat poked its head out. "Because, Frigglish wanted to come!"

    The meows had attracted the attention of another person waiting in line, a girl in a blue cat hat, who promptly turned around to view the spectacle.

    "Awwww what a cute cat!" she squealed. "Can I pet him?"

    "Sure!" Roxy answered, obviously delighted she had found a fellow cat lover.

    "What's his name?" the girl asked, petting the cat.

    "His name is Frigglish."

     John heard Rose huff "Jaspers" under her breath. 

     "Nepeta, step away from that creature at once." came a sudden voice next to the girl.

     "But Equius!" Nepeta whined, turning to face the larger boy who had just spoke. "It's just a cute little kitty!"

    "That cat may be carrying diseases, I command you to step away from it this instant."

    Nepeta stuck her tongue out at him, but stopped petting the cat nonetheless. 

 

    "Oh! i just remembered, I should probably pester Dave!" John said.

ectoBiologist began pestering turntechGodhead at 1:20

EB: hey! rose and roxy are here

TG: oh cool

TG: jake and jade just got here

EB: awesome.

EB: it would be way cooler if we were all at the same achool though.

TG: yeah

TG: shit

TG: ive got to go my bro just did something stupid

EB: like always

TG: shut up

turntechGodhead ceased pestering ectoBiologist at 1:25

 

    John chuckled to himself. Jane, Rose, and Roxy all looked at him inquisitively.

   "Jade and Jake just got to the English school, and then Dirk did something stupid." he explained.

   Jane and Roxy looked at each other with a flicker of concern, but did not want to alarm their younger siblings. They both knew that Dirk had feelings for Jake. Even he couldn't hide that with his ironic shades and stoic expression, but Jake's feelings were unclear. They didn't think Dirk would be stupid enough to run into Jake's arms and kiss him. He wouldn't do that, right? Roxy just shrugged and Jane put on a smile to hide her concern. She would pester him later.

   

    After half an hour of loud talking to hide Jaspers/Frigglish's meowing, they finally made it inside the campus.

    "So who are your roommates?" John asked. They had all held out on peeking during regestration so they could show each other later.

    "A girl named Vriska Serket." Rose said.

    "Ahh! Janey! We got a room together!" Roxy exclaimed.

    "Oh good! I was terrified I'd get someone horrible." Jane said

    "Tavros Nitram. Who's he?" John asked.

    "I think he is the boy in the wheelchair." Rose said. "I saw a girl talking to him as we were waiting in line and she called him Tavros."

    "When did you see that? I was right next to you the entire time!" John said.

    "You just need to pay more attention to your surroundings and stop being such an airhead." Rose chuckled. 

    

    They all said their goodbyes and planned to meet up later at dinner. Roxy and Jane started up to their dorm. 

    "Now tell me Roxy, how much vodka did you bring this year?" Jane asked.

    "Oh please Janey! I brought more than just vodka!" Roxy laughed.

    "Isn't that why you got kicked out of English Academy last year?" Jane chided. "Roxy, you have a problem and I'm worried!"

    "But Janey, you know I can't handle it if I don't drink." she started to sniffle.

    "I know." Jane said, patting her friend's back. "But maybe you should try cutting back a little bit?"

    Roxy nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'll try."

 


	3. Chapter 3

    The common room of English Academy had a tv, but the remote had long since been lost, so the tv was constantly stuck on a channel that played nothing but nature documentaries. Sollux was currently try to figure out a way to use his laptop to change the channel on the tv. He could care less about what was on the television, but Aradia had seemed pretty bummed out that she couldn't watch her ghost shows, so he had decided to do it for her.

    He almost had it working when he was thumped in the back of his head and and unknown voice said "You're a douchebag, you know that?"

    Sollux turned around to see a very angry looking boy and Terezi standing not too far behind him. "Oh boy TZ, you brought me an asshole, just what I've always wanted." 

    She giggled. "Sollux, this is-"

    "CG." he guessed.

    "Okay how the hell did you know that?" CG inquired.

    "No one else would insult someone like that upon meeting them." Sollux stated as if it was obvious "Should I ask why I'm a douchebag?"

    "Well for one thing, I didn't give you permission to tell anyone where I was going to school, and for another thing that lisp, and-" CG started.

    "Now now, boys. Why fight on the first day?" Terezi said, breaking up the fight before it could start "Sollux, this is Karkat."

    "I think I'll call you KK." Sollux said.

    "What the fuck is it with you people and dumb nicknames? Should I come up with nicknames for you too? How about I just call you shit head and shit head #2." Karkat growled. Both Sollux and Terezi laughed at his comment.

    When their laughter died down, Terezi asked "Are you still trying to change the TV channel?"

    "Yeah." Sollux said, turning back to his laptop and typing a few things in. "I think I almost had it until you two distracted me."

    "Oops!" Terezi said.

    "I bet I could figure it out faster than you, I'm great with computers!" Karkat said, snatching the laptop away from Sollux and inspecting the work that had been done.

    "Karkat.. you suck with computers." Terezi giggled.

    "I do not!" He retorted, typing in some things on the laptop.

    "You set your computer on fire once, Karkles."

    "That was one fucking time, and don't call me that!"

    She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Karkles."

    He glared at her, and then remembered that she couldn't see what he was doing, so he just settled for a "Fuck you."

    "Is that an offer?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

    "What?! No!" he exclaimed.

    Sollux prodded Terezi with his elbow. "He's blushing TZ." The two of them began to laugh.

    "You guys suck. " Karkat grumbled, turning back to the computer. He hit a few more keys and the laptop suddenly shut off. 

    "You're going to break my computer, asshole, just give it back to me." Sollux said. 

    "No, I've got this, I meant to do that." Karkat said, turning the computer back on.

    A blue screen came up and started flashing codes. The screen flickered and turned black, the words "Help Us" appearing in white text.

    "Okay, what the hell did you do now?" Sollux reached to take his laptop back.

    "I can still fix this." Karkat said, maintaining his grip on the computer. He then added under his breath "Whatever the fuck this is."

    "Just give it back!" Sollux said, grabbing his laptop and trying to pull it away from Karkat. Karkat attempted to shove Sollux away, but Sollux began to shove him as well, and it erupted into a full on shoving and shouting match. The laptop ended up falling, long forgotten by the two angry boys.

    Terezi kept her distance, opting to move over to the coffee table, but her leg brushed against something sitting on the table that felt suspiciously like the laptop which was supposed to be on the floor.

    "Uh guys, did someone move the laptop over here?" She asked after confirming that it was, indeed, a laptop.

    The two boys stopped fighting and looked over at her. "Wait, you didn't put it there?" Sollux asked, rushing over to inspect the computer.

    "No, it was just there." She replied, shrugging.

    "Holy shit it's completely fixed!" Sollux exclaimed.

    "What the actual fuck." Karkat said, staring at the laptop incredulousy. "This has got to be some kind of prank you're pulling"

    "I swear it's not." Terezi said.

    Sollux was hitting buttons on the keyboard and staring at the screen intently. "I ran a couple of tests and it looks like everything is completely normal." he scratched his head. "What could have made it act like that?"

    "I'm more concerned about the fucking laptop moving by itself." Karkat said.

   

    They stood in silence for a couple of minutes, regarding the strange incident that had just occured, until a very energetic girl ran in exclaiming "Sollux, Sollux, guess what?"

    "What is it, AA?" Sollux asked, turning to face the girl.

    "I was talking to one of the seniors and they said that the school is haunted! Can you believe it? A real haunted school! We'll have to hold a seance, or, ooh! How about a ghost hunt?"

     Sollux smiled. "Sounds like fun."

    Karkat looked absolutely mortified. "Ghosts?" he whispered. Terezi sympathetically patted him on the back.

    "Oh Sollux, did you find the remote?" Aradia asked.

    "No, but I've got this." Sollux typed a couple of things into his laptop and suddenly the tv changed channels.

    "I could have done that." Karkat mumbled.

    

    They heard voices coming from the hallway as some people made their way towards the room. "...all I'm saying is that there's no shame in it."

    "Dave! It was one time!"

    "Are you sure it was only once, Jade."

    A boy and girl walked into the room, obviously caught up in their conversation.

    "For the last time, I don't eat dog tre-" Jade cut off as she noticed that there were people in the room, and regarded them with a friendly hello before turning back to Dave. "We'll discuss this later."

    "Okay, well the snausages are there if you want them." Dave said, shrugging.

    Jade groaned and put her head in her hands.

 

    Karkat, not wanting to have to hang around with his douchey roommate, muttered an excuse to leave, and was almost out of the room, when he accidentally bumped into a man wearing a bright red turtleneck.

    "Get the fu-...shit." He cringed, noticing who it was. It was his brother Kankri, who happened to be the school counsellor, and who also happened to be the person Karkat was hoping to never run into.

    "Oh good, I've finally found you, Karkat. I've been looking for you for quite some time now. Father is quite worried because you haven't been picking up your phone, do you have it on? You should really keep it on in case of emergencies. Also, just as a side note, you should probably refrain from using such profanity, as it is both rude and can be triggering to certain people, and you don't want to offend anyone. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to show you around the school and introduce you to all of your teachers. Just foll-"

    "Actually sir," Terezi said, walking up behind Karkat "he was just about to walk me to my room, perhapsyou can take him on that tour another time?"

    "Oh yes of course. Carry on then, brother, I will come and find you later."

 

    The two walked out of the room as fast as they could. When they were out of earshot, Karkat said "Thank you."

    "No problem. You really weren't exaggerating when you said your brother talked a lot!"

    "That was nothing, he was only getting started. I swear, he's insufferable." 

    They walked in silence for a few minutes before Karkat asked "So what are we going to do now?"

    Terezi thought for a second "Ooh, you know what would be fun? If you took me around campus and told me what everything looks like."

    "That sounds like a fucking horrible idea."

    "Please? Come on, it's not like you have anything better to do."

    Karkat groaned, realizing she was going to get her way regardless. "Fine. Just don't tell anybody about this."

    "You've got yourself a deal." She winked at him.

    As soon as they were outside, she asked "What does the sky look like right now?"

    Karkat looked up. "Orange." he said bluntly.

    "Oh come on, you can be more descriptive than that."

    He let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, fine. Along the horizon the sky is orange and red like the all-consuming fires of hell, and further up it fades into more of a peach color that tints the clouds and makes them look like-"

    "Cotton candy." She finished. "That sounds beautiful."

    "I think it looks pretty damn ugly." he mumbled. She hit him in the arm for that.

    "Okay, describe more things!" 

    "Like what?"

    "What are we standing on?"

    "Shitty-ass half dead grass."

    "Colors?"

    "Brown and green, but mostly brown."

    "Like chocolate?"

    "More like fecal matter."

    She laughed at that. "Okay, is there anything else around here?"

    "There's a tree."

    "Describe it to me."

    "Don't you know what a fucking tree looks like?"

    "Karkleeees!" she whined.

    He rolled his eyes. "It's a really big oak tree or something."

    "How tall is 'really big'?" 

    He paused for a second, comparing the height of the tree to the surrounding objects. "Probably as tall as a two story building."

    The continued this process for what seemed like hours, only stopping when they ran out of things to describe. They ended up sitting on the ground in silence.

    "Has the sky changed?" Terezi asked after a while.

    "Yeah, it's dark now." he looked up. "Whoa."

    "What?" 

    "There's so many stars."

    "It looks so nice when you're far from the city, huh?" she sighed. "I remember seeing it like that once. That was a very long time ago."

    There was silence for a minute or two.

    "Do you want me to describe it to you?" Karkat asked.

    "That would be nice."

    "Well, uh, the sky is black, obviously, and the moon is full tonight, and wow, it's really bright. How do I even describe the stars? There's so many of them, I can even see the Milky Way, or at least I think that's what that is..." he trailed off.

    "Do you see any constellations?"

    "I think I see the Big Dipper, or maybe it's the Little Dipper? I don't have a fucking clue but I think it's one of them." he glanced at Terezi. Her face was tilted up towards the sky, and she was smiling. It wasn't her usual devious smile, but a genuinely pleasant smile, as if she could actually see the stars herself. It was kind of cute.

    "Hey, Karkat?" she asked after a moment.

    "Yeah?"

    "What do you look like?"

    "Well, I-"  

    "There you two are!" came a sudden voice from behind them. "It's almost curfew, what are you two doing outside?"

    Karkat looked up, noticing who it was. "Oh, Kanaya, we were just hanging out." he mumbled. 

    "You should have been watching the time, you don't want to get in trouble do you? And I'm still angry with you for not coming by to say hello when you knew I was here, Karkat, you should have picked up your phone." her voice was very stern.

    "I was trying to avoid my brother's calls."

    Her expression softened a bit "I understand. Speaking of which, we better inside before he decides to come looking for us. I do not want to sit through one of his lectures."

    Karkat got up, and then helped Terezi up, but he made sure not to hold on to her for too long so Kanaya didn't suspect anything. _Not like there is anything._ he reminded himself.

    "I will take Terezi from here, she is my roommate after all. Make sure you text me when you get up to your room, Karkat."

    "We should do this again, Karkat. All sunsets are different, you know." Terezi smiled at him before taking Kanaya's arm and being led away.

    Karkat watched her go, wishing that she would come back.

    

    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was so much fluff in that, I guess I went a bit overboard, huh?
> 
> Anyways, here's a tidbit from our notes that will probably not be mentioned in the story; we actually picked states and towns out for each character:  
> Jake & Jade: uncharted island  
> Jane & John: Spokane, Washington  
> Dave & Dirk: Houston, Texas  
> Rose & Roxy: Buffalo, New York  
> Aradia: Tombstone, Arizona  
> Tavros: ??? (I couldn't read the handwriting), New Mexico  
> Sollux: San Diego, California  
> Karkat: New York City, New York  
> Nepeta: Atlanta, Georgia  
> Kanaya: Richmond, Virginia  
> Terezi: Washington D.C.  
> Vriska: Chicago, Illinois  
> Equius: Detroit, Michigan  
> Gamzee: Hoboken, New Jersey  
> Eridan: London, England  
> Feferi: Miami, Florida


End file.
